(Reuters) - American ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue said on Wednesday they plan to heighten the drama in their "Romeo and Juliet" free dance routine when they compete at the world championships in Japan later this month.

The duo, who won worlds silver in 2018 and earned a second consecutive national title in January, are eager to improve on their showing at last month's Four Continents Figure Skating Championships where an errant lift saw them miss the podium.

"We have wanted to add more challenge and more dimension to the programme," Hubbell told reporters.

"We want to end on a high note, on a more dramatic note. It was always there but we never found the right music, never found the right cut."

Their coach, Patrice Lauzon, had told them the key to winning gold was to bring the audience to their feet, she added.

"Patrice said his feeling was that these people are ready to give you a standing ovation and midway through the slow part, it's hard to keep up the intensity," said Hubbell.

Their team have fused together a mashup of music influenced by the Shakespearean tragedy with the aim of building momentum and the intensity over the closing minute.

"It really ends with a very strong beat and hopefully takes the audience from that very quiet, internal place in the love story to more of the standing ovation momentum towards the end."

The world championships will be held March 18-24 in Saitama, Japan.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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